Vehicle bodies may be manufactured with non-ferrous metals such as aluminum or magnesium. Many electrical vehicle components are connected to ground through the vehicle body. Attaching ground connectors to steel vehicle bodies is accomplished by simply welding the connectors to the steel bodies by resistance welding.
Ground wires for aluminum vehicle bodies are connected to expensive weld studs or weld nuts that are welded by resistance welding to the vehicle body. Welding weld studs or weld nuts to aluminum alloys may result in burn through at the location of the welds due to the difficulty in welding to aluminum. Welds of aluminum studs or nuts to aluminum parts results in welds that have reduced tensile and shear strength.
Aluminum used for vehicle body parts is heat treatable aluminum alloys commonly referred to a 6XXX aluminum that may be hardened by heating after forming to improve the strength of the material. Welding studs or nuts to heat treated surfaces may create a heat affected zone of the part that results in a loss of the tempering effect and localized reduction of the strength of the part.
The above problems and other problems are addressed by this disclosure as summarized below.